


For a better future

by disownedbytime



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 05:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14395779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disownedbytime/pseuds/disownedbytime
Summary: Tharja knew her future self hadn’t been a good mother, so she knew she had to try more this time, and now the opportunity presented itself.





	For a better future

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2014, but just now I decided to post it. Just a brief insight about Tharja and Noire’s relationship, while also adding Tharja’s jealousy to the mix. I made Lon’qu the father because I believe they work great as a family. 
> 
> Not betaed and English isn’t my first language, so there may be a few mistakes.

A few months passed since she and the myrmidon were wed, and just a fewer months since they found out about the daughter they had that came from the future.

Of course it had surprised both of them. Particularly since that meant Lon’qu’s fears had been subdued partially, enough for them to have a kid. Tharja herself never imagined having a daughter, let alone someone as Noire, and yet she couldn’t say it bothered her. She was content that her relationship with Lon’qu had flourished, and content that her daughter was a fine woman and a great fighter; even if she was not the bravest girl (though that may have been her fault.) Nevertheless, she loved Noire, even if she rarely said it. And she was glad that, after all that happened in the girl’s future, Noire still cared for her and trusted her.

Tharja tried to teach the dark arts to her daughter, but after a while she decided that it was better if Noire didn’t learn any of that. She wanted her daughter to be happy, and she realized the dark arts weren’t the way to do it. Still, Tharja taught Noire how to use magic in a reliable way and how to defend herself. Thanks to these lessons, Tharja grew closer to her and learnt a lot about her life and the future she came from, and moreover she learnt how to read her daughter.

This was how she learnt her daughter loathed to fight. Noire was a great archer, and she even learnt how to use other weapons, such as tomes and swords, but still her mother could see how much she suffered when they were in the middle of a battle, probably due to all the fighting she had to do in the future. It was understandable, after all.

 

So, why did Noire looked so happy now? For the past week, every time they had to engage in battle with the Risen, Noire didn’t look like herself. She still seemed nervous and scared to some extent, but at the same time she seemed so energetic and over confident. Her first thought was that maybe Noire was hexed. She never smiled in battle unless her “split personality” appeared, and Tharja was sure this wasn’t the case. She tried to undo the hex, just to realize it was impossible since it appeared there wasn’t any to begin with. She analyzed the possibility of it being such a powerful hex that she couldn’t even notice it, so she asked her fellow Plegian ally, Henry, to help her. She hated asking for help regarding hexes, but she knew she had to try, and yet he told her the same thing: Noire wasn’t hexed.

 

She even discussed the matter with her husband, and he agreed that she was indeed acting strange, but for him it was better this way. He always worried about Noire’s mental stability, so he was glad to see that switch in her. Though he was also intrigued about the cause of his daughter’s unusual change.

 “Maybe it’s just that she’s closer to her friends now, you know? Chrom said all the kids from the future are here now, so perhaps she’s happy to see them again. Like that girl, Cordelia’s kid, I’ve seen them together a few times, they seem to be good friends, and apparently the kid is less bratty these days, nicer in fact. Noire could be happy for that reason.” The myrmidon had said one day when they were getting ready to sleep.

Tharja stopped what she was doing and gave him a somewhat sarcastic look. “What? Now that you are comfortable with me around, you also feel comfortable watching other girls?” Tharja knew what her husband meant since Cordelia had told her the same thing just a few nights ago, but it still irked her a little bit. She couldn’t hide her jealous side.

“From all I said you only got that, woman? No, I am not. Gregor mentioned that she’s treating Cordelia better.” Lon’qu was used to Tharja’s jealousy, it was common but gratefully it never went too far. “At any rate, all those kids seem to get along better now than when they arrived, they probably got used to being here by now. So, we should let Noire do as she pleases, if she wants to tell us something, I’m sure she will.”

That was the most logical solution, honestly, and yet Tharja thought it was stupid. Just because some kids were friends now Noire was happy? That was stupid, and somehow it didn’t make sense.

 

She decided to approach her on battle and ask her about the matter, so right now it was her chance. After Tharja defeated a few enemy knights, she turned to where her daughter was, right as she had finished clearing out her side of enemies.

“You.” The Plegian mage approached her. Tharja had to look up to her, one of the things that she couldn’t get used to. Normally, she didn’t care that she was small, she was less noticeable that way, but she couldn’t get over the fact that her own daughter was at least 5 inches taller than her.

The archer lowered her weapon while she wiped out sweat from her forehead. “Oh, hey, Mother. Is everything okay?” Again, she was smiling.

“Yes, at least for me. How do you feel?” Tharja asked her.

“Me? Oh, gods, do I look sick? Too pale? I don’t feel sick but maybe the anemia is…” Noire blabbered a bit before Tharja interrupted her.

“No, you look fine, too fine indeed.” She sighed. In fact, she wasn’t sure how to ask. She wasn’t one that cared to much for others or for emotions, and especially not for other’s emotions.

“What do you mean, Mother?” Noire looked at her mother confused. “And, it’s not like I do not enjoy your company, but we should keep advancing, we don’t want others to steal our kills, right?”

“I mean that.” Tharja stepped closer and pointed at her. “Today you fought so… well. You took on many enemies, some that even veteran soldiers couldn’t defeat easily. You don’t seem afraid, and on top of that, you are smiling.”

“Oh, was I smiling? W-well, I’m sorry.” While she excused herself, Tharja could see that her daughter had blushed a little.

“No, it doesn’t bother me to see you like that. Unless you are going crazy, you know, like Henry or Olivia’s kid.” Tharja pulled her tome closer. She really hoped that wasn’t the case.

Noire gave a small chuckle. “No, Mother, I’m fine… as fine as I can be. It’s just…” She trailed off and turned to see battlefield where her peers were fighting. “This is so different than before. In our future, everything was so dark and gloom. We had to fight to live another day, but the next day was the same, and next day again the same, and so on, and it was plain horrible. We truly didn’t know if we could get to see each other the next day, if it wasn’t due to the fights it was due to not having food or somewhere safe to rest. Not like here is not like that.”

“…” Tharja got a little close to her daughter, she wasn’t going to hug her or anything, but she wanted her to know that she was there for her. “I’m sorry.”

Noire dismissed her mother with a smile on her face. “No, no, don’t be. What I mean is that...” She trailed off, lost in thought. “You know, I’m happy being able to be with you, with Father, with Robin and with, w-with the others. It feels as we can do it this time, and we can change destiny indeed. I-I want to fight, not just so I can live in fear another day, but so I can enjoy my future with all of you. So, I’m giving all I can to do this.” She seemed quite energetic as she finished, which was quite unusual.

“…”

“Eeek. I’m sorry, I probably sounded too stupid and…” Noire was quickly to change her expression to an embarrassed one.

“No, it is not stupid, Noire. It’s fine. At least now I know why you’ve been so happy all these days. Your father was worried.” Now, this made more sense to her than Noire just getting along with her friends. She wanted to change the future from which she came from. That made sense.

“Father? Oh, I should apologize.” Noire said and chuckled slightly. “Though, in fact, I’ve also been happy because all the others that came with me from the future are reunited already, I was scared that someone hadn’t made it here. And since things are more at peace in here, I’ve had time to get to know them better. It’s funny, I fought alongside them for many years and it’s until now that I really got to know them.”

Oh, blast it! Lon’qu was right. Tharja couldn’t believe that her husband had actually been right on this matter. When did he even become an expert on these subjects? “Oh, yes, I heard your friend, Severa, was... less bratty.”

Noire laughed again. “Yes, that is true. She’s always had a difficult temper, but if you ask me, I think someone is the real reason for that change.”

Tharja kept quiet, waiting for Noire to continue, but suddenly she had an eerie sensation. Was Noire talking about her friend being in love? What was the girl thinking? Talking to her mother as if they could tell each other everything? Was that really their relationship now? But at the same time, Tharja felt confident enough. “Someone?"

“Inigo. Olivia’s kid. They have been rather close lately. Severa claims he’s always annoying her but she can’t stop talking about him. And you know, some weeks ago I saw Inigo playing with a ring, that I know wasn’t his mom’s, and just now I saw Severa with it, so,” the girl suddenly stopped and gave her mother a sheepish smile, “but what am I saying, I’m sorry, Mother, I should not bother you with these things.”

“You are not bothering me.” Tharja didn’t speak for a few minutes, making it awkward for both of them. “I know I am not the best mother, and I couldn’t care less about those kids, but if talking about it makes you happy, then it’s fine.” She couldn’t even look at Noire, she still didn’t understand how her relationship with Noire worked, but she felt that was the right thing to say. She may not care about those topics, and she knew she wasn’t the normal type, but she wanted to try being a good mother. She knew she hadn’t been the best in Noire’s time, and even if she didn’t want to admit it, she wanted to avoid becoming like that in the future.

“M-mother, t-thank you.” Noire sobbed slightly and for a second it seemed like she wanted to hug Tharja, but she then stopped and smiled.

Tharja looked away and saw the kids Noire had just talked about, not too far away, fighting side by side. It shouldn’t be strange for them to get closer, even she did it with Lon'qu in the middle of the war. And who would have imagined it? The dark mage who nobody wanted to get close to and the myrmidon with the biggest fear of woman ended up together. So, really it wasn’t weird for two kids who knew and fought alongside each other since they were kids to fall in love. Though that brought a different question.

“So, Noire. Tell me something. Do you…?” Tharja stopped. Was she really going to ask her this? She just accepted to get close to her, but was she really going to ask if she liked someone?

“Yes, Mother? Do I what?” Noire looked intrigued and curious.

Tharja sighed. She couldn’t ask her that. Not now, maybe later. “No, never mind.” Noire muttered something which her mother couldn’t hear, she seemed a little bit disappointed. “Noire, you know you can always tell me anything you want. About you, or your friends or anyone.”

Noire stayed still for a moment and then smiled brightly. “Thank you again, Mother.” She wanted to say something else but held back once again. “I think we should keep going now. I should go with the others now, and you should go to your area. We’ll talk later, and I’ll be sure to apologize to Father for making him worry.”

 

Tharja nodded and saw the girl walk towards a small group of soldiers. Maybe she could do this. Spend more “quality time” with her daughter. It should be fine, right? Her own mother was never this close, but she could try. The other girls in the army did it, and of course she wasn’t like the other girls there, but if they could, she could do it too. She was about to return to her place with the other mages when the sight of her daughter caught her eye again.

Noire was still with the same group of soldiers. While they were preparing for the next wave of Risen to come, she was talking to a boy rather enthusiastically. Tharja stopped walking and turned all her attention to them. Lissa’s son, the guy who was always screaming nonsense about naming weapons. According to her dear Robin, he was a fine warrior and could handle the sword just fine, as expected from a royal prince. Even if she trusted anything the tactician said, she felt the need to watch them more.

She watched them talk for some minutes. Noire seemed genuinely happy, Tharja felt that she seemed happier than when she talked to her a few moments ago, but ignoring that, the conversation seemed pretty normal. She shouldn’t think about this, Noire was a grown up woman who could do anything she wanted. Even if Tharja was her mother she couldn’t stop her from… getting along with a boy? getting a boyfriend? She wasn’t even sure. Furthermore she just met her a few months ago when that kid probably knew her since they were little. But what was she saying? Solely because they were talking didn’t mean they had something going on, hell, even Noire had just said it: she had been getting friendly with her old companions. That probably meant all of them, that boy included.

Tharja shook her head and tried to dismiss all those thoughts. She chuckled. She knew she had a jealousy streak, but this was ridiculous. She shouldn’t feel jealous of this. Just as she walked towards the troops, she heard Noire’s voice again and turned to see her. They were holding hands. Not like a lovey-dovey handholding, it seemed as if he was reassuring her of something. Noire looked flabbergasted but she was blushing still. They stopped talking but kept holding hands for a few minutes, until a soldier called them to get ready. They smiled and separated their hands, but kept walking rather close.

At almost the same time, another soldier came tell Tharja to prepare for the next battle. She walked towards her station and gave a quick, final glance to her daughter before engaging in the next fight. Both kids were ready to fight, she with her longbow and he with a killing edge, much similar to the one her husband used too. They weren’t even close now, each on a different side of the terrain. It didn’t even look like just moments ago they were holding hands.

 

Noire was her own person, an adult, she could do anything she wanted and be with anyone she wanted. It shouldn’t affect her nor Lon’qu. Speaking of that, how would her husband react if she told him that her daughter was seeing someone? She didn’t even mean Lissa’s son, just anybody. What would he think about her daughter having a boyfriend? That could be fun, she wanted to be there when that happened. He was too kind to her daughter, so she didn’t think he would get mad at her. But he was overprotective as well, and Noire was a bit of a daddy’s girl, so his reaction may be worth it. Yes, she wanted to tell him. Maybe it wasn’t that bad that her daughter was seeing someone.

In the end, she couldn’t change what Noire wanted, so it was better to accept it. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt if she placed some hexes on the boy, right? She stopped using Noire as her guinea pig, but she was okay with getting a new one. She was sure Lon’qu would even agree with her, if only for the sake of their daughter. Of course, she couldn’t hurt him much or else Noire would be mad at her, and she didn’t want that, mainly because now their relationship was going in the right path. She smiled slightly to herself. She really wanted to have a better relationship with Noire, she wanted to avoid what her future self did. Nobody could make her say this out loud, but she wanted a happy family with her husband and daughter.

She should talk with Noire about all of this before deciding, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some hexes at hand, the boy in question should know she was gonna take care of Noire this time, and he should be ready for all that it conveyed.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s always mentioned how Tharja has a jealous streak and I wanted to delve slightly into that. Also Noire / Owain may be my favorite ship in awakening, so I may write properly about them later.
> 
> Thanks for reading ♥︎


End file.
